Faculty and Administrators in Higher Education: Poles apart?
Let us assume that one of the overall common denominators between faculty and administrators in higher education institutions is that they serve students. However, despite this seemingly common role they appear to be poles apart.
In an article published in the Chronicle, a faculty member who moved to administration describes that she felt how her world had completely changed, not only in terms of her new responsibilities but also with respect to the language use in her new administrative position.
The primary role of a tenure-track faculty member is three fold: teaching, research and professional service. Faculty positions are usually contracted for a nine-month period whereas administrators’ positions are usually twelve-month, five-day a week jobs with their focus on budgets, organizational processes and personnel.
Administrators’ responsibilities clearly range from managing a unit, interacting with employees and students to making decisions on the distribution of monies and budget lines. In many respects, administrators are faced with prioritizing on the basis of resources available. This process could have short, mid and long-term consequences for faculty, employees, staff and students.
The roles of administrators and faculty are clearly different and the divisions of labor are necessary. Thus their respective work is often invisible to the other and only occasionally intersects.
A faculty member who recently accepted an administrative position at our institution commented on how he had never realized the many assignments and duties that administrative employees are expected to perform. This extensive variety of assignments occur not only at the top administrative executive positions but also at the mid and lower level positions. He mentioned never having fully appreciated the scope and the intensity that administrators and staff members put into their work. Their work is critical to the functioning of the entire infrastructure of our campus: buildings, classrooms, student affairs, and technology. This person who has bridged two worlds also acknowledges an enormous shift on his calendar and schedule having been accustomed to the “flexibility” of teaching, holding office hours and researching from off-campus locations.
Faculty and administrators alike often make assumptions of the others’ job, underestimating the complexity and extent of the others’ work. I think both faculty and administrators are professional individuals whose charge is to diligently comply with their responsibilities.
My own experience as faculty and administrator at UNC and in other higher education institutions has opened my eyes to a better understanding of the others’ responsibilities. The majority of faculty and administrators I have worked with are competent professionals devoted to the values and goals of higher education and are committed to provide a high quality educational opportunities to all the students they serve.
Aldo, thank you for your post. I have also served as faculty and administrator. As I began moving up in my profession, I felt it was important to experience the classroom. While this was at a community college, which is much different than a four year institution, it definitely gave me the insight I was looking for. I learned that faculty and administrators have some things in common. Both groups have to deal with student excuses with missing deadlines, both groups are dedicated to students, both have have to manage people, and both groups have a boss that they have to answer to.
ReplyDeleteInteresting enough, I worked at a college years ago that held a combined faculty and staff meeting. Student affairs staff were asked to get up and outline what faculty were responsible for at the college and faculty were asked to outline what it took for a student to get enrolled in a class. While the list was quite extensive and right on for the student affairs folks explaining what faculty do, faculty only listed three steps on what it took for students to get enrolled. The student affairs staff had an advantage as they had all probably been students. However, faculty knew very little on what it took to help students through the process and the services that were available for students. Who is to blame? I would argue that both sides are responsible. The communication lines between both parties is not done well at most institutions, student affairs does very little to educate faculty, and faculty take very little time to learn the college. It would be interesting to setup a job shadowing process for faculty, administrators and student affairs staff so that everyone could get a glimpse of the functions performed in each area.
I work with faculty very closely and we experience this same phenomenon. Faculty who thought we were glorified babysitters (I work in housing) are amazed at the hours we put in, our response to crisis, and the way we are proactive about things like mental health. They (I work with Engineers) are also amazed that we do human-subject research, that is - research that isn't controllable and has a hundred variables. In a similar vein, student affairs folks who work closely with faculty (myself included) learn that faculty don't have limitless free time, they do care about students, and have a tremendous amount of responsibility.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have an example of an institution where Student Affairs and Academic Affairs are not as silo-ed? I'm wondering if there are institutions where student life/affairs departments are housed in individual colleges. I can imagine a world where the College of Engineering hires their own student affairs folks, and they would all be in the same house. How might this affect our ability to communicate, collaborate, and work to serve students?
In his comments, Beau raises an interesting idea re. separate student affairs programs by college. I think that we do see some of this already in graduate and professional schools. Just this afternoon at NASPA I spoke with a student affairs administrator who works for a medical college which is part of a larger university. Given the unique needs of medical students this makes sense to me-- but I have a feeling that he experiences some of the same challenges that those of us who work in more traditional student affairs settings face in working relationship with faculty too.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to consider in the scenario of each college hiring their own student affairs teams would be the inevitable disparity that would arise between colleges. I'm sensing that the College of Business might have more resources to support their student affairs programs than the College of Education... Again, we see this to some extent already, even when the distinction isn't formalized. What implications would that have for equity and student success, (in my mind I'm picturing the College of Education students floundering around with sub-par advising, programming, community development, etc. b/c their College can't afford it, while the business/engineering/STEM students in their respective colleges have top notch services...)? Furthermore, in this hypothetical example we'd likely see inadvertent gender discrimination (Colleges of Education tend to enroll more female students, whereas the Engineering Colleges tend to be dominated by men).
In his comments Beau also asks, "Does anyone have an example of an institution where Student Affairs and Academic Affairs are not as silo-ed?". I do. I'm unsure if this is generalizable or not, but I'll share. I worked at a specialized fine arts college. In the Fine Arts, the terminal degree is not a doctorate. A Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is it, and the faculty therefore were Masters level professionals, right alongside with the student affairs staff. The Provost had a doctorate, but the degree really was not something that was valued in the institutional culture/field. In retrospect, I think that the equality in the degree level between faculty and most administrators helped to facilitate a more equitable and respectful working relationship between the two 'sides' (...most of the time). Something to consider.
Aldo, I appreciate that you are someone who transcends the typical role of either faculty or administration. Both roles require students serve, however serving students has traditionally looked very different for faculty and staff. This can often lead to a misunderstanding about the role and importance of one another. However, having personnel who serve both roles could help build a bridge between the two worlds allowing for everyone to better serve the students.
ReplyDeleteBraelin's comment brings up an interesting point regarding collegiate "haves" versus "have nots." From my perspective as a long-time staff member in a College of Engineering, I would vote that my college would be no more likely to dedicate “extra” money to fund student affairs professionals than the College of Education would have funding available for those same positions. In other words, and in my experience only, student affairs are vastly under-valued in the realm of engineering. At my "research 1" institution, when push comes to shove, I propose that money would be directed towards research endeavors that bring in a lot more money (with possibilities of millions of dollars per grant) than student affairs professionals who focus mainly on undergraduate students.
ReplyDeleteI think the activity Lori outlines would be beneficial at most institutions as a means of connecting both faculty and administrators, especially at the beginning of a new year or program. Knowing as we do the tenure process can be harrowing and messy experience over a long period of time, and that not all instructors even get to that point in their careers, it helps to enlighten everyone on the multiple and diverse job responsibilities faced by student affairs professionals. It also helps remind everyone that both the “practice” and “preach” areas of campus have significant impact on students and we have to work together to be most effective. I see a possible correlation from what Aldo is saying here to the research he and I are doing (!) on how faculty define student success. If the expectations of student success are outlined and promoted by both faculty and administration, and we respect the efforts of both sides of the institution, we all have better chance of fostering student development.
ReplyDeleteI concur that any exercise or activity that aims at connecting faculty and administrators would be beneficial for any institution. Continual communication between faculty and administrators with respect to students’ expectations is essential within any educational institution.
ReplyDeleteJanella, I agree that what I have mentioned relates to a certain extent to the study that we are conducting. Collaboration of both faculty and administrators in providing avenues for students to be successful is critical.